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Rails to Trails, Brockville’s signature Canada 150 summer festival, racked up a deficit of $185,000, according to a city staff report.

That shortfall, combined with a series of other deficits and surpluses across the rest of the city’s operations, has prompted city hall to project an overall operating deficit for 2017 – also pegged at $185,000.

City council’s finance, administration and operations committee was expected to discuss the projected deficit at its meeting Tuesday afternoon.

The budget “variance report,” part of the city’s regular tracking of budget performance, is a snapshot of the fiscal picture as of September 15.

Since it is a projection based on a part of the year, the overall city deficit estimate “is expected to change when all financial information is finalized,” the city staff report notes.

The four-day Rails to Trails Festival brought a record-equalling 40,000 people to Brockville in mid-August.

The event, Brockville’s formal Canada 150 celebration, featured the opening of Brockville’s newly-restored historic railway tunnel, a very popular visit by the giant rubber duck touring the province at the time and the Carnivale Lune Bleue.

Brockville Ribfest, another popular draw during that weekend, was run separately and is not connected to the city deficit.

The carnival portion of the event, which featured old-time midway rides and sideshows, was a key factor in the $185,000 deficit, said Lesley White, the city’s manager of strategic initiatives.

Rails to Trails was budgeted at approximately $375,000, with a projected surplus of $174,000.

The carnival, which was the only portion of the event that had admission fees, was to bring in $145,000 in revenues, but in fact it brought in less than $20,000, said White.

“We anticipated that it would be off; we didn’t know how way off it was going to be.”

Other revenue sources included senior government grants and some vendor revenues, said White.

The initial projection was based on discussions with The Works Events, which organized Rails to Trails, said White.

“It was a decision that we made as a city,” she added.

She noted the festival, while a financial loss, was well received and a large draw.

And given the specific nature of the event, “it was something that will never happen again,” she added.

The rubber duck, which rivalled or exceeded the tunnel in popularity, did not cost the city any money, as it was funded by the province. However, noted White, it would never have come to Brockville without a large Ontario 150 event happening concurrently.

“That’s your Catch-22,” Mayor David Henderson agreed.

“Our most successful item was the tunnel,” added the mayor.

“But more people came to see the duck.”

It was difficult to lure people to the city with the promise of a dazzlingly-lit, restored railway tunnel, said Henderson.

However, the giant rubber duck proved an easy sell to bring visitors here, and once they got here and ended up walking through the tunnel, they were amazed, he added.

Henderson suggested discussion of the deficit will lead to an overall rethink of what role the city will play in future festivals.

Specifically, elected officials will have to think about whether the city should support such a “super festival” to anchor the summer season when there are plenty of locally-generated events, such as Ribfest, already going on.

“City council will have to decide what their strategic direction is,” said the mayor.